5 Reasons to Incorporate STEM Education and Sports
by Sean Barton | View Bio
and
Haley MacLean | View Bio
Sean Barton is the Chief Value Officer – Curriculum & Strategy responsible for the development and sustainability of the STEM Sports® curricula and strategic plan, in addition to providing budgetary, personnel, and operational support to the President & CEO. Sean’s goal is to apply his professional and academic experiences to support and drive the mission of STEM Sports®, diligently serving students and educators in a vast and changing world.
Haley MacLean has been in the classroom teaching since 2016 and is a Nationally Board-Certified Teacher in Early Adolescent Math. She has taught a variety of subjects, including Math, STEM, and AVID. Haley grew up playing every sport and knew one day she wanted to find a career that would combine her two favorite things: teaching and sports. Haley joined the STEM Sports® team in 2021 as a Curriculum Writer and Sales Captain.
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At STEM Sports, we believe the powerful combination of STEM and sports is the key to meaningful learning that can last a lifetime. We provide standardized, turnkey K through 8 supplemental curricula that use sports as the real-life application to drive STEM-based, hands-on learning in classrooms, after-school programs, camps, and at home across the globe. To learn more, visit www.stemsports.com.
STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. The focus of STEM education is to develop students’ ability to problem solve, think critically, and innovate. Combining STEM Education with Sports enhances both fields by exploring the relationship between them.
1. It’s a Unique Approach
Incorporating sports within your STEM curriculum will provide a unique educational, and enjoyable experience for students. With the combination of STEM academics and sports content, students can develop skills for future jobs and real-life situations. Incorporating sports makes it easier for educators to provide an innovative and hands-on experience for students that encourages the development of physical literacy for students to gain valuable leadership, collaboration, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills.
2. Academic and Athletic Engagement
By using sports, students can engage with the STEM curriculum on both a mental and physical level; thus, increasing student retention and providing a positive learning experience to get young minds interested in STEM. In addition, the combination of STEM and sports has the capability to reach a variety of students with different interests: the STEM-loving student will connect with the initial STEM curriculum while having a new approach to learning; the sports-loving student, who may typically avoid STEM, will be able to learn in a way that is familiar to them, and in turn, less intimidating.
3. Mindfulness Matters: Students Start Thinking About STEM Careers
Approximately 85% of STEM jobs anticipated for the year 2030 have yet to be invented, and within the next 10 years+, 80% of all jobs will be STEM related. Combining STEM academics with sports can help students develop skills for future jobs and real-life situations, and in turn, cultivate generations of students with leadership, collaboration, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills essential for future jobs. It encourages students to change their thinking from “when will I ever use these skills”, to, “I want to learn even more skills”.
4. Fosters Collaboration and Project-Based Learning
Promote collaboration among students by incorporating group projects and team-based activities that are sport related. Collaborative learning encourages communication, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills. Project-based learning provides opportunities for students to work together to tackle real-world challenges, fostering creativity, teamwork, and a deeper understanding of STEM concepts.
5. Helps Create an Inclusive Learning Environment Where Students Feel Comfortable Taking Risks
Including sports can aid in fostering an inclusive classroom culture where students feel safe expressing their ideas, take risks, and make mistakes. A vital component of sports is learning how to be a part of a team, including how to be a good teammate. This encourages open dialogue, respecting diverse perspectives, and creates opportunities for all students to contribute. This environment promotes creativity, innovation, and collaboration, allowing students to explore and develop their STEM skills with their team, without fear of judgment.
Examples for Incorporating STEM Education and Sports
Explore the Science Behind Precision
Ask students to shoot a small paper ball into a basket by bouncing it from three feet away. What is happening to the energy in the ball as it bounces? Ask students to perform the same task from ten feet away: Why is this so much more difficult? How is the energy being transferred?
Encourage students to brainstorm a chain reaction design that can score with precision from ten feet away. In their design, they can roll or bounce the ball by using common classroom objects (chair, ramp, etc.). As we know in sports, it isn’t about making the basket one time, yet making it consistently using precision. Which design will your students come up with that is the best?
The Correlation of Stretching and Injury Prevention
Students learn that properly preparing to play a sport involves both a mental and physical routine, as they need to know why certain preparations are more important than others. Lead students in a stretching and warm up routine. While stretching, it is important to educate the students which muscles they are stretching so they can learn which corresponding injuries they are preventing. For instance, doing lunges stretches your hamstrings, and prevents pulling a hamstring. But why and how?
There are times in sports when the forces (including the angle of the force) in play are too extreme for the bones, muscles, joints, tendons, or ligaments in your body. Stretching your hamstrings not only helps prevent that specific injury but can help prevent injuries that depend on the strength of your hamstring like your knee or ankle. Without stretching, your body can only handle so much unbalanced force. For example, imagine the pain from the force angle created by landing on another player's foot after jumping. That could be a season ending injury! But by stretching, you increase the number of unbalanced forces your body can handle. The same scenario might still hurt, but your body is better equipped to compete!
Calculate Calories and Heart Rate
Teach students how to calculate their resting heart rate by placing their index and middle finger around their neck and counting the number of heartbeats in a minute. Then teach students how to calculate their maximum heart rate by subtracting their age from the number 220. What is the difference between these two heart rates? How long do you think you could play soccer before you reach your maximum heart rate?
Encourage students to play soccer for ten minutes, once the time is up, use the same method to count the number of heart beats in a minute. How does this compare to your resting and maximum heart rate? After taking a ten-minute break, count the number of heartbeats again. How does this compare?
It is important to teach students and athletes the correlation between their heart rate and the number of calories burned. For athletes to perform at an elite level, they have to make sure they are consuming enough calories before an activity for their body to burn.